A Trip With Friends
by The Draigg
Summary: Get ready for a KRAKEN good time when Team RWBY and Team JNPR visit an aquarium for an extra credit assignment! Hopefully, nothing FISHY will happen! You'll laugh! You'll have your heart warmed! You'll ask, are you SQUIDDING me? Humor, fluff, and sea life all await inside!
1. Chapter 1

**_A Trip With Friends_**

Chapter 1: Something Fishy Is Afoot

**Aquariums! Who doesn't like them? Oh, wait, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm The Draigg, and I'm a man of wealth and taste. Except not really. If I was, I would have bought out RWBY by now. Instead, it's owned by Monty Oum. Yet again, maybe that's for the best. If it was run by me, it would be filled with the goofy shit you're about to read. Now, let's read something funny!**

**xxx**

The Vale City Aquarium was a very busy place. It often attracted different types of guests, from young families, to students on some sort of marine life based field trip.

Speaking of students, a van full of them drove its way into the parking lot. Executing a perfect handbrake turn, the van flipped into two free parking spaces and screeched to a halt. The driver, wearing a smug grin, stepped out to admire her work.

"Fantastic," Yang complimented herself. To look cool, she tossed the keys into the air and snatched them out of the air.

The second to get out of the van was Jaune Arc. Well, 'getting out' isn't the best way to describe it. It was more of an ungraceful tumble out of the van door. Then, with the speed only a violently ill person can muster, Jaune dashed over to the nearest bush and vomited up his breakfast.

Pyrrha, who wasn't looking that much better, climbed out of the van and walked over to the bush. She began to pat Jaune's back, hoping to comfort her partner. However, her sweaty, sick face wasn't exactly a comforting sight.

"Just get it out—" Pyrrha's positive comment was cut off my a massive dry heave. Not even the best athlete around could resist the car-sickness that came with Yang's driving. Well, that, and the partially digested remains of bacon and eggs weren't very pleasant to look at or smell.

So, with Pyrrha's body taking the most obvious route, soon she joined her boyfriend in vacating her stomach's contents as well.

A pale looking Ren and a surprisingly rosy Nora walked up to their teammates. They couldn't help but gape a little at their friends.

"Aww, didn't you like the ride? It was fun!" Nora observed.

"Maybe for you…" Ren groaned. He felt like he was suffering from a horrible fever. He hadn't felt like that ever since he had first read a chapter of Blake's fan fiction.

Behind them, Blake, Weiss, and Ruby climbed out of the van as well. Blake was trying to balance herself against the side of the van. Weiss and Ruby were trembling uncontrollably, and they wouldn't let go of each other's hands. The pair of them looked scared half to death.

Yang decided to help Blake regain her footing. All the cat Faunus had to say to her girlfriend was, "Jaune's driving on the way back,".

"Where's your sense of adventure?" chided Yang. She was a safe driver! Whenever she was behind the wheel, she was the safest car on the road, damn it!

"I think I lost it near the four lanes you crossed on the freeway…" Blake snarked.

"Har har har. I should've taken you to a stand-up club, not an aquarium," Yang replied, unamused.

Weiss and Ruby stumbled their way over to their partners. "C-can w-we j-just-t g-go already?" Weiss asked, her voice trembling from all of the adrenaline in her bloodstream. Her heart was racing, but not in a good way.

Sighing, Yang fished a bunch of aquarium tickets out of her pocket. "Yeah, why don't you get us a spot in line? I think me and Blake need to get the others going first," she said a she nodded her head to Team JNPR.

Jaune was trying to hold Pyrrha's hair back, but that didn't help much when he was still weak in the knees from the trip over. So, Ren and Nora had to help Jaune keep his footing, lest he and Pyrrha fall into their own vomit puddle. Truly, these were the guardians of humanity right there.

Taking the tickets, Ruby and Weiss decided to walk over to the aquarium entrance. Honestly, the line wasn't very long. There were only ten people at most waiting to be allowed in. Probably because a Friday, and people had much more entertaining things to do instead of look at fish for a few hours. In fact, the only reason Teams RWBY and JNPR were here was to get some extra credit for Professor Port's class. Apparently, there was an interesting exhibit with a live Kraken for them to write a report on.

So, Weiss and Ruby waited in the small line for about five minutes. Yang, Blake, and Team JNPR shortly afterwards joined them in line, where all of them got their tickets from Yang.

"Here you go. Just remember that we're going to meet back here in three hours, okay?" Yang advised the others. Team JNPR collectively nodded at the same time. It was weird what people could pick up when they lived together for a while.

"Cool," Yang affirmed as she walked up to the ticket booth to be let in. Soon, everyone else redeemed their tickets and went inside.

**xxx**

The aquarium was rather large, and therefore was divided up into several different sections. A large map was present, pointing out where they were with the aptly titled label, 'YOU ARE HERE'. Yes, the visitors looking at the map certainly weren't in the plant life section, which was down a long hallway, nor were they at the mammalian life wing, which was just past the gift shop.

Good job, map.

Anyway, Teams RWBY and JNPR were looking at the map, wondering where they should go first.

"I think we should just head over to the Kraken exhibit, first," Blake suggested.

"I agree. Let's go there," Weiss said.

"We've got a few hours, you two," Yang pointed out. "We might as well take our time,".

"I wanna see the dolphins!" Nora cried to nobody in particular.

"I suggest we split up," Ren said in his average monotone. Nora didn't even wait for the others to agree with Ren's suggestion. In her excitement to see some dolphins, she had already begun to walk in the direction of where she guessed dolphins would be.

Jaune couldn't help but shrug. "I guess it's a good of suggestion as any," he said. He gave his best 'winning grin'. But, it's appearance was hampered by the fact that his teeth were stained by bile.

Pyrrha quickly closed her partner's mouth. "Maybe you should hold off on smiling until you brush your teeth," she patiently suggested.

"Good idea…" Jaune sheepishly admitted. Vomiting and nice smiles didn't have much of an overlap, when you really think about it.

And so, Jaune and Pyrrha wandered off. Nobody had any clue where they were going. In fact, it didn't look like they did, either, judging on how Jaune and Pyrrha kept on pacing in front of two separate hallways before walking into the left one.

That just left Team RWBY by themselves.

"Well… I still want to go to the Kraken exhibit first," Weiss announced.

"Have fun with that!" Yang cheerily said a she grabbed Blake by the hand and began to drag her in the direction of the gift shop.

"Hey! I didn't agree to anything!" protested Blake. As Weiss and Ruby watched their friends disappear into the shop, Blake's complaints faded into the distance. Once they were out of sight completely, Team White Rose faced one another.

"So… Kraken, I guess?" questioned Ruby.

"Of course! Now, follow me," Weiss said in response, taking the lead.

"B-but, don't you think you should look at the map?" Ruby suggested while Weiss was already beginning to walk down a long corridor.

Weiss spun around on her heel to look at Ruby. "Trust me, I already got a good look. Now, come on! We might catch something good for our report!" she urged. Then, turning around, she made her way down the hall.

Not seeing any better options other than being left alone, Ruby followed Weiss. Well, Weiss was a smart girl. Ruby wagered that she knew what she was doing. It worked all the other times, like with homework and stuff. Why wouldn't it work now?

**xxx**

As soon as Yang passed the threshold of the gift shop, her grip on Blake weakened. Instead, that one half of Team Bumblebee made a beeline towards a barrel of adorable otter plushies.

"Are you even listening to me?" Blake complained some more. Yang was paying her no mind. Instead, she picked up a plushie and began to play with it. She made the stuffed otter toy move it's legs up and down, as if it was dancing.

"Seriously?! Are you just ignoring me now?" incredulously questioned Blake.

Yang flipped around and held out the otter for Blake to see. With a squeaky voice, she began with, "Sorry, Yang's out right now. You'll have to talk to me, Mr. Otter!".

Blake let out an annoyed huff. "Really, now?".

"Sorry, what was that?" Yang said through Mr. Otter.

Rolling her eyes, Blake decided to go along with Yang's irritating game. "Fine, fine. Mr. Otter, is Yang trying to ignore her girlfriend?".

"No," came the squeaky voice, "She just wants to have some fun today,".

Blake couldn't really fault her for that. Given that Yang was the team's unofficial mother figure, it made sense that Yang would want to cut loose and act a little childish once in a while… discounting all the childish jokes she frequently made. Oh well, it was the thought that counted.

"Mr. Otter, do you think that I can talk to Yang?" Blake asked the stuffed animal. Nodding in response, Yang put down the toy and smiled at Blake.

"Man, that Mr. Otter is so protective of me," the blonde couldn't help but comment. Her grin grew wider.

Sighing, Blake decided to browse the shelves with Yang. "I see where Ruby gets it…" the cat Faunus mumbled under her breath. Apparently, dorkiness was a genetic trait, along with poor attempts at humor.

**xxx**

"Weiss…" Ruby moaned as she kept pace with her partner.

"What is it, Ruby? I'm trying to look for the exhibit here!" Weiss asked back, slightly miffed. She could have sworn that the Kraken exhibit was around here somewhere!

"…We've passed that same display five times now…" the cloaked girl quietly admitted.

Stopping in place, Weiss looked at the display that Ruby was talking about. Yeah, now that Ruby mentioned it, that exhibit on krill did look rather familiar… but her pride was on the line, damn it! Weiss couldn't just back down now!

So, letting her inflated sense of ego take over, Weiss said, "Pfft, please, Ruby. I'm sure there are several exhibits around her that look similar. I mean, how much diversity can there be in an aquarium? Trust me, I know where I'm going,". That was a blatant lie, and Weiss felt it down to the marrow.

Ruby's concern softened in the face of Weiss' confidence. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she gave in, rubbing the back of her head.

"Now, stop wasting time, and let's go already!" Weiss chided as she began sauntering away again. Internally, however, Weiss was frantically trying to work out a way to salvage her gaffe.

"_Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap! I can't let her down! Oh, I was so STUPID not to study the map better! Wait! I can fix this! I just need to act like I'm interested in the other displays along the way! Yes! That way, I can buy some time to find out where the Kraken tank is! Oh, Weiss Schnee, you're a genius! Now, make Ruby proud!_" was what the spinning cogs in her mind translated into.

Weiss and Ruby marched down the exhibit hall, hoping to find the one that they were looking for. If either of them had paid any attention to the map, then they would have noticed that they were in the completely wrong wing to begin with. But hey, luck had gotten them pretty far, right?

Undaunted in their task (due to the lack of proper knowledge), Team White Rose walked around the display hall, looking for that elusive giant squid/octopus/abomination. With any luck, their quest would end soon.

…Yeah, as if that was going to happen. The pair of them had the absolute worst luck EVER. A person trying to gamble using pocket lint as collateral would have a better chance than those two.

And the universe wouldn't have it any other way.

**xxx**

**Man, Weiss' navigational skills sure are FISHY, aren't they? She and Ruby can't help but FLOUNDER about! But, I guess it wouldn't be a conflict if Weiss didn't CLAM up on her thoughts! Okay, I'll stop with the sea life puns… for now. So, with my battery drained from all those puns, I'll cut the usual rant and just say to leave me a review or message. This is The Draigg, heading for better waters!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Gone Fishin' With Ren And Nora

**Man, PETA isn't going to like this chapter. Yet again, this is me we're talking about. It wouldn't be one of my stories without some amount of comedic sociopathy thrown in (look it up on TvTropes!). Well, that should be enough of a preview for now. So, moving on, just remember that Monty Oum owns RWBY, not I. Now, onto the story!**

**xxx**

Ren and Nora were on a dolphin hunt. Well, not in the way that one would think, based on that statement alone. Nora would never try to kill a dolphin she saw, she would just try to hug it. And, if the dolphin bit her, that wasn't an issue. She was strong enough to show that dolphin who was the real Queen of the Sea.

"I'm gonna hug it, put a ribbon on it, and name it Claude!" Nora mused to a sedate Ren. He was truly a master at listening yet not-listening at the same time.

"Uh-huh," Ren said with a regular amount of disinterest.

There was no way he was going to allow Nora to take a live dolphin. Now, if it was a DEAD dolphin, that was a different matter entirely. Ren had it on good authority that dolphin tasted pretty good. He sure as hell wasn't going to turn down some dolphin meat. In fact, a few of his favorite foods that were passed down to him by his ancestors involved fresh dolphin. But, it was a sad fact that an aquarium wouldn't have good dolphin meat for him to purchase. Truly, it was other people's loss.

"What if it has a baby? What should we name it?" Nora excitedly asked Ren.

Great, now he actually had to think about this one. "How about… Rei? That's a fine name," Ren suggested.

"Ooohhhhh! I like it! It sounds so mysterious, so cool!" gushed Nora.

"…But seriously, Nora. No stealing the dolphin, alright?" Ren then advised.

Nora giggled at her partner's thinking. "Pfft! You're so silly, Ren! I'm not going to STEAL the dolphin, I'm just going to take it to a new home!" she rationalized. Ren frowned at Nora's train of thought.

"Do you want us to get kicked out? And, don't you remember the last time you tried to do that with that caged dog?" scolded Ren. Now that he thought about it, that wasn't a very pleasant experience for anyone at all.

**xxx**

"Aww! Look at them! They look so cramped in there!" a much younger Nora cried at a bunch of dogs in cages.

Ren and Nora had just gotten back form chasing down an ice cream truck and had plenty of the frozen treats in hand. Ren had just finished his only fudgesicle, while Nora had already scarfed down four ice cream sandwiches, and she had several other popsicles to eat as well. So, the sugar getting to her brain wasn't exactly helping her thought processes at all.

On their way back to Ren's house, the pair noticed a large truck with several cages in the back. Of course, with the curiosity that only a child on a sugar rush, who may or may not have some kind of disorder could have, Nora rushed over to it immediately.

"Here, doggy! Have a lick!" Nora offered her spare popsicle to a rather strong looking dachshund to lick. The dog looked at the treat hesitantly, but then decided to eat it anyway.

"He likes me!" Nora cheered as she watched the dog eat the frozen treat.

Ren, however, was more concerned with the truck. What reason could there be for having a truck full of dogs in cages? That was a concerning thought. So, Ren decided to investigate a little.

As Ren moved to the side of the large truck, he could hear a latch being undone and Nora say, "I wanna pet him!".

There were some large letters on the side of the truck. Ren grew worried as he realized what the dogs were. "Nora, get away from them, right NOW," he cautioned as he rushed to get back to Nora's side.

It was too late, and the dog was already upon Nora. It was furiously scratching at her face and chest, which Nora was desperately trying to shield herself from. She desperately called out to her friend, "Ren! Help meeeeeee!".

The dog continued its assault, until Ren gave it a swift kick in the stomach. The dog whimpered, and Ren took that opportunity to punch it in the nose. Now that it was stunned from the pain, Ren grabbed the dog and flung it back into its cage. Breathing heavily, he put the latch back into its place.

Nora was a crying heap on the ground, with all of her ice cream scattered and melting around her. Without a word, Ren picked her up and dusted off her clothes. In response, Nora flung her arms around Ren and gave him the largest hug he had ever experienced up to that point in his life.

"R-Ren! You s-saved me! You're my hero!" she sobbed at him. Ren patted her on the head to comfort her.

"Ssshh, ssshh, it's going to be okay, it's okay," was Ren's surprisingly gentle voice. Nora looked up at him with watery eyes, before burying her head in his chest.

"You're the best!" Nora complimented through her crying.

Picking up an unopened ice cream sandwich off of the ground, Ren offered the dropped food to Nora. "You dropped this," he bluntly stated.

Nora immediately snatched it out of his hand, opened the wrapper, and shoved the ice cream sandwich down her throat. As she munched on it, her expression grew a little lighter, and her crying died down.

"Better?" asked Ren. Nora gave an approving nod.

Ren gave a small smile at Nora, who slightly blushed in return. And so, the young duo walked past the animal control truck and back to Ren's house. Back there, he would clean and bandage up her scratches. Through his distant exterior, Ren was still a good guy at heart, after all.

**xxx**

"It wasn't that bad…" Nora said quietly, remembering how Ren had saved her. What she remembered the most was the feeling of Ren touching her face as he cleaned up her cuts. It was a nice touch, so warm and soft and great and awesome and cool and… Ren-like.

"Still, we don't want a repeat of that, do we?" questioned Ren, even though he already knew the answer.

"Not really…" Nora agreed.

"Good," Ren said simply.

The pair walked in silence for a few minutes, before Nora perked up at a strange noise. To her, there was no mistaking it: only a dolphin could make that adorable squeaking noise! Now encouraged, Nora rushed over to where she heard the noises coming from. Ren sighed, and ran after her. She was surprisingly fast for someone who ate a lot.

Nora finally stopped in front of a large water tank. She was right! There was a dolphin swimming in there! She just had to get in and touch it! So, Nora sat down on a nearby bench and began to take off her shoes.

Huffing, Ren jogged over to where Nora was sitting. "What *puff* are you *huff* dong?" he asked, trying to catch his breath. He raised his arms over his head, trying to get more air into his lungs.

"Easy, Ren! I'm going to climb in and swim to my dolphin friend!" Nora declared, as if it was incredibly obvious.

Ren couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Didn't we just talk about this?" he asked her.

"That's different! Dogs are on land. Things on land have claws that hurt. Since dolphins swim in water, they don't have claws and can't hurt me!" was Nora's technically correct reasoning.

"I think you're missing the point…" Ren groaned.

"Are you going to come in with me?" Nora innocently asked.

"What? First of all, I wouldn't. Secondly, didn't you notice there is no opening to get in? It's all glass," pointed out Ren.

Nora stopped taking off her second sock to look where Ren was gesturing. He was right, there was no rim for her to climb over to get inside. All she could do was look at the dolphin from the other side of the tank. Realizing she couldn't go swimming with the dolphins, Nora began to dejectedly put her socks and shoes back on.

Ren took note of Nora's frown and decided to help her cheer up. "But, you can still look at the dolphin. I bet he wants to meet you," he reassured her.

The sparkle in Nora's eyes returned at the thought of waving hello to the dolphin. "Really? Want to look with me?" Nora squeed.

Ren lashed a small smile and shrugged. "Sure," was his response.

Hopping to her feet, Nora skipped over to the glass tank to look at her new aquatic friend. Before Ren knew it, Nora had her face pressed against the glass and was waving at the dolphin. The dolphin looked curious, and was swimming around in circles to look at Nora.

"Hi! I'm Nora! And you're Claude! I think we'll be great friends!" Nora said to the dolphin. On the other side of the glass, the dolphin squeaked back at her.

"Ren! Ren! He talked back to me! Ahhh! Dolphins are so COOL!" Nora cheered.

"They sure are," Ren said back. He began to look at the dolphin alongside Nora. The dolphin was nice and al, but something seemed… off. Maybe because it was the only dolphin in an otherwise large tank. And, why was there that huge cave behind it? Sure the dolphin could life fine without it. Ren scratched his head as he tried to figure out what the mystery was here.

"Uh, kids? I think you should look at a different exhibit for a few minutes," a man to the pair's side suddenly said.

Ren turned around to face the man. Judging by his uniform and nametag, this man was an employee of the Vale City Aquarium.

"Why is that?" Ren asked the man.

"Well, you see, the Kraken here likes its meals live… trust me, it's not a pretty sight," the employee warned.

"Wait, Kraken? This isn't the dolphin exhibit?" Ren questioned, his stress levels rising.

"Nope. If you want to look at that, it's down the hall and to the left. Now, I suggest you and your friend hurry. The Kraken should be waking up soon," the employee told Ren.

Turning back to Nora, who hadn't been paying attention to that conversation in the slightest, Ren grabbed her arm. "Come on, I think we should go," he said quickly.

Nora shook off his arm. "Look at Claude! I think he winked at me!" she said in absolute joy. She had no idea of the fate of that poor dolphin.

"Nora, this isn't the dolphin tank, it's the—" Ren's explanation was cut off when a huge tentacle shot out of the cave.

Gripping the dolphin by the tail, the soon to be devoured creature let out shrieks of panic and terror. Nora's eyes bulged in terror and shock. "No! Claude!" she screamed at the glass.

Out of the cave, a large creature crawled out. It had about six blood red eyes. They didn't move, as if they were dead. Raising its diamond shaped head, the Kraken opened its mouth to scream blood-curdling roar. It was so loud, that it was heard through all the water and glass easily. Another tentacle was raised, and it wrapped around the helpless dolphin's throat. The dolphin's shrieks stopped, and it violently thrashed around to try and escape the crushing grip. It was of no use.

The Kraken began to pull apart the dolphin, causing it to start ripping in half. First, it's grey skin gave way to reveal the muscle and tissue underneath. Once that happened, the dolphin's fate was sealed. It was ripped apart easier than tearing a wet leaf. With the spine still mostly attached to the front end of the now thankfully dead dolphin, the Kraken opened it's terrifying maw to swallow the half whole.

Nora silently watched in terror as the Kraken then ate the second half, blood creating a cloud around the horrifying creature. Pieces of entrails and flesh floated around the tank, giving the terrified girl a nice image of what part of a dolphin's intestinal tract looked like.

Once the Kraken had eaten what was left of the dolphin, it let out a loud cry of dominance and victory. How that glass tank managed not to crack because of it, nobody was really sure. Then, now that it's stomach was full and it's hunger sated, the Kraken lumbered back into its cave home.

Behind him, Ren could hear the employee groan, "Great, he didn't take the chunks this time. Now I have to get the net…" as he walked away.

Ren and Nora were left standing in front of the blood filled tank, frozen in shock.

"Ren," Nora said in a quiet voice.

"Yes, Nora?" Ren responded. Normally, he would have been surprised at how quiet Nora was being, but the image of a dolphin being messily devoured was still lingering in his mind.

"I think I wanna go home now," admitted Nora.

"That's a good idea," Ren agreed. He didn't expect a display of extreme violence and gore. He was only here to study the Kraken, not to get a front seat showing to a dolphin's murder!

Nora began to weakly shuffle out of the room. Ren followed her, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. What she needed the most right now was someone to comfort her. It was never a nice thing to have something you really wanted to see die in front of you. As the pair walked out of the room, Ren was already thinking of ways to make Nora feel better. He had done it before with the whole dog incident.

He sure could do it again.

**xxx**

**I don't think anyone expected dolphin murder when they began to read this story. Hell, even I was surprised that I could put that in here. But, I suppose that makes this the foremost story in the RWBY fan fiction section with the violent death of a dolphin. That makes this story unique, in a way. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. Maybe? Anyway, go ahead and yell at me for being an asshole and killing a dolphin in the form of a message or review. This is The Draigg, signing off to go clean some aquarium tanks.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: With Regards To Kelp And Jellyfish

**Okay, okay, I swear this chapter will make up for the dolphin murder in the last one. Probably. I mean, it's hard to top anything as extreme as that. But, I'll try, man, I'll try. Anyway, with that pleading out of the way, just remember that I don't own RWBY, or any other media I put in here. If I did, then dolphin related violence would be in the actual show. Now, onto the bloodless, non-violence filled chapter!**

**xxx**

Jaune was sitting on a bench in the western exhibit wing. He was rather bored, and as a result was browsing the internet on his scroll. Arguing with people on his favorite forums was infinitely more interesting than what Pyrrha was currently obsessing over.

"Look at this one! It has enough proteins and vitamins to power the brain for a week!" the athlete declared. She was marveling at some weird ocean plant in a tank of sea water. Naturally, she was completely intrigued by the healthy properties of various plants. It was nostalgic of Pyrrha. It reminded her of all the plants she ate while training for various tournaments she competed in.

"That's great, Pyrrha," Jaune murmured disinterestedly from the bench. He didn't even look up from his scroll. He just failed to see how plants could be interesting in the slightest. That, and someone on the internet was WRONG, so he needed to fix that.

Pyrrha turned around to look at her boyfriend. Seeing that he wasn't paying attention at all slightly irked her. However, her passive attitude restrained her annoyance. So, instead of expressing her disappointment, she tapped her foot repeatedly against the floor.

"Don't you want to look at these exhibits with me?" Pyrrha passive—aggressively complained.

"Not really," Jaune bluntly admitted.

Pyrrha's upper lip twitched a little. "Are you sure? I would like it if you did," she further insisted.

Jaune sighed and got up from the bench. He didn't want to stop telling people on the internet that they were wrong, but his girlfriend was rated more important than that. So, he strode up to the salt water tank, and stared at the plant.

"So… what does this weed do, exactly?" he asked as he leaned in closer to the tank.

"Oh, a lot of things!" Pyrrha began to lecture. "A lot of smaller fish live among the leaves, where they can hide from larger predators. Also, with all the minerals that the rich seafloor gives the plant…".

Jaune's attention began to drift away from Pyrrha's incredibly dull talk about plants. Instead, his thoughts returned to how to take down some uppity girl on the forum he most frequently visited. Every time he tried to post a theory on some game or story, this girl shot him down and called him some rather archaic insults. Who the hell calls people 'dolts' nowadays, anyway? Well, Jaune knew at least one person who did, but at annoying poster probably wasn't her. Who would honestly think that Weiss Schnee would frequent Grumblr often?

"…Nutrition boost gave me the energy to finish the tournament! Isn't that great!" Pyrrha asked Jaune. She had finished her lecture, and now was looking at Jaune expectantly.

"Y-yeah! That's, ah, awesome. Was th-that your fifth victory?" Jaune quickly bluffed. It looked like Pyrrha had bought it, as she was pondering what trophy she won with the help of natural supplements.

"I think… it was my… seventh victory, actually," Pyrrha thought out loud. "Yeah, it was my seventh one,".

"Ermm, how many have you won, e-exactly?" Jaune asked. Now that he thought about it, he knew that Pyrrha had won a lot of athletic competitions, but he didn't know the specific amount.

"Oh wow, that question takes me back…" Pyrrha mumbled as she tried to remember how many times she won stuff.

Let's see… Since Pyrrha had been a professional athlete all through her early teens, it was hard to point to the exact amount of trophies, medals, or plaques she had won. To her best estimate, it had to be around nearly twenty or thirty by now. And, if you counted sponsorship deals as 'winning things', then those numbers got a little more blurry. She had sponsored so many products, ranging from breakfast cereal (that was cool) to shoes (that made sense) to maxi-pads (…now that was a weird experience for a young Pyrrha).

"I guess… somewhere around thirty, give or take," Pyrrha eventually settled on.

Jaune couldn't help but be impressed by his girlfriend. "Thirty?! Wow, you're like some… some athletic machine or something!" he complimented. Sure, it was a rather lame one, but Pyrrha found it somewhat charming with its earnestness.

"More like a person, but thanks for the compliment!" Pyrrha thanked back in a perky voice. With that conversation now over, the par walked over to the next exhibit.

At least this one was tangibly more interesting than the other one. There were some cool looking jellyfish in this tank. Maybe it was an apology from the aquarium staff for the other tanks filled just with coral or plants.

Jellyfish, as anyone who had seen some before, were pretty cool. It was interesting to think that something that might as well just be a puddle of bio-slime could actually be a living, moving creature. That, and they were like glow sticks, too. This is what makes jellyfish appealing, especially to Jaune.

Not minding the horrible stings they could give, of course. But, that was a different matter entirely.

"Man, it's really cool how they just light up like that…" Jaune observed about the jellyfish.

"It's called bio-luminescence, Jaune," Pyrrha tried to explain. However, Jaune was more fixed on the coolness factor of the jellyfish rather than the science.

"Yeah, yeah," Jaune dismissed, "But look at that! Look at it! It's glowing! Gahhh! So cool!". His gushing was kind of funny, at least to Pyrrha. It was nice to see Jaune be so invested into something unusual.

"You must really like jellyfish," commented Pyrrha as she watched the odd creatures.

"Oh, you bet! They're like… gahh… and rahhh… you know?" Jaune enthusiastically said, not finding the right words for his excitement.

Pyrrha couldn't help but chuckle at Jaune's sentence. "Yeah, I get it," she laughed.

Jaune couldn't resist the urge to tap at the glass. The jellyfish didn't react. Instead, they chose to keep on lazily swimming around in front of the glass pane. Still, Jaune was amused to no end. Jellyfish were way more interesting than telling some fussy chick on Grumblr that she was overall wrong about everything.

By now, Pyrrha was getting a little weirded out by Jaune staring at the display tank. He had been standing there for several minutes now, and he wasn't showing any intention to move onto something else. Was this what it felt like to be Ren? If it was, Pyrrha was beginning to understand the soft-spoken easterner a little more. Well, at least Jaune's love for jellyfish wasn't as bad as Nora's energy for… everything, really.

"Umm… are you fine just standing there?" Pyrrha asked, hoping to draw away his attention. It didn't work at all.

"Uh-huh," was Jaune's distant reply. It was almost as if he was hypnotized by the gentle, lazy swimming of the jellyfish.

"Do you… want to sit down or something?" Pyrrha pressed some more. The only response she got from Jaune was a non-committal grunt. Pyrrha's lip twitched again. How was it possible that a bunch of jellyfish got more attention than his girlfriend? Those things didn't even have arms or legs!

"Well, I'm going to sit down. Feel free to sit next to me when you want to," Pyrrha announced in an overly sweet tone. It was (or rather, should have been) an obvious passive-aggressive statement.

Pyrrha slammed her rear into the bench, and repressed an irritated huff. She had to calm down. Yes, that's what she needed to do. She tried to remember the techniques her old trainers taught her to calm down, and not let her emotions overflow. Breathe in and out, in and out. Count to ten, and then count backwards to one. Stretch your back, and think about something peaceful, like ocean waves crashing against the rocks on a beach.

Don't think about getting your gun/lance from the van to impale a bunch of stupid jellyfish. Don't think about how their goo would splatter on the floor. Don't think about how good it would feel to kill something that was stealing the passionate attention that you thought you only shared with Jaune. That's right, don't think about any of those good ideas.

Stay calm, just calm down.

**xxx**

A half hour passed, and all Jaune had done in that time was move to a different side of the tank to get a better look at the jellyfish. Pyrrha was trying really hard to be patient, but by now, her capacity for that had been greatly diminished. Right now, Jaune was being a complete time vampire. And not the cool and badass ones, like ones that could pause time and drop steamrollers on Stand users. Just an annoying one.

Pyrrha was anxiously bouncing her leg up and down, trying to work out the anxious/angry tension that had built up. Now that she thought about it, Jaune must have had some serious willpower to not go to the bathroom, and stare at jellyfish instead. Why couldn't he apply himself this hard when it came to combat and aura training?

Just stay calm, Pyrrha.

Her patience was finally rewarded, and Jaune walked over to the bench. But, instead of sitting down, he held out his hand to get her up.

"Come on," he ordered, "We're going to look for more jellyfish now,".

The elation that Pyrrha felt was quickly replaced with an inward groan. He was still on a jellyfish kick? Wasn't spending at least forty-five minutes staring at a whole bunch of them enough already? Sometimes, Pyrrha felt that Jaune had parts of him that were a complete enigma. She understood Ren more and more by the minute.

"C-can we please look at something else?" pleaded Pyrrha.

Jaune raised his eyebrow at her. "Like what? Jellyfish, by definition, are the most interesting thing in aquariums," he said, as if it was a clear and obvious fact.

"Really? What sources do you have?" Pyrrha questioned.

"Oh, that isn't important. Now, come on! Those big jellies are waiting for us!" Jaune declared as she began to walk away.

Now outwardly groaning, Pyrrha stood up and reluctantly followed her partner. Just… why, anymore? What was he getting out of all of this? Was it some scientific obsession of his that she didn't know about? Was it some odd fetish? Or, was this some sort of punishment for some trespass she didn't know she committed? If it was, Pyrrha was more than willing to degrade herself in front of Jaune in order to escape this torture.

Dragging her feet behind Jaune, Pyrrha was now wishing that he would drop this whole fascination of his. At this point, she was beginning to regret ever coming to this aquarium. The five extra credit points seemed less and less worth it by each passing moment. But, as her leader and boyfriend, she was obligated to support him, no matter what.

So, trying to dull her immense boredom and irritation, Pyrrha tried to remember the better, more exciting things she and Jaune had done together. Like killing Grimm, copulating in the gardens, studying, copulating in a van, camping, and so on and so forth. At least all the positive moments of their relationship outweighed the less than desirable parts of it. Pyrrha made that fact sink in. And, for all she knew, Jaune might find one of her habits annoying too. But, since he said nothing about it, she chose to believe that he was holding his tongue for her sake. Jaune could be a very considerate fellow.

Straightening her posture, Pyrrha sped up her pace so that she could walk next to Jaune. If they were going to do this, they might as well do it as a couple. So, she grabbed Jaune's hand and interlocked it with hers.

Jaune turned his head to gape at her. The blush on his face made Pyrrha feel good about her actions. It served as a good reminder that at heart, Jaune still felt strongly about her. That unspoken token of affection made things look a little brighter, at least from her point of view.

As for Jaune, his fleeting feeling of love for Pyrrha at the touch of her hand was swiftly replaced. It was replaced with the determination to find some more jellyfish. Maybe he could Pyrrha to appreciate them for what they had to offer! Yeah, then she would love them as much as he did! It was perfect!

And so, the team leader dragged his subordinate on a quest for awesome jellyfish to look at.

So, their trip so far wasn't that odd, at least compared to what their other friends had experienced.

**xxx**

**As you probably guessed by now, every chapter is going to focus on a partner duo. That way, the fluff is compartmentalized, and you can enjoy them as their own stories! Cool, huh? Well, anyway, before you leave for now, be sure to send a review or massage my way. This is The Draigg, signing off to find a jellyfish!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Just Because I'm Losing, Doesn't Mean I'm Lost

**Coldplay reference! In the title! Hooray! I know an easier reference to make in the title with the word 'Lost' in it would be to the show. But, as that's only one word, it would be a pretty vague one. So, that's the reference you're getting. Anyway, that tangent aside, just remember that I own nothing realted to RWBY. Monty Oum, the talented, lucky man that he is, owns it instead. Now, let's get to the meat of the story!**

**xxx**

"…Okay, NOW will you admit we're lost?" was an exasperated Ruby's question.

Weiss and Ruby were now standing in front of a door that said, 'Employees Only'. Sure, Weiss had bought some time by stalling and looking at other exhibits, but the fact still remained that she had absolutely no clue where the hell the Kraken exhibit is. She had led Ruby over into a rather isolated area of the aquarium, where she assured her that THIS was where the exhibit was.

Of course, that was a guess at best, and a flat out lie at worst.

Now, Weiss was forced to eat her own words. It was a good thing she didn't sweat all that much to begin with, otherwise she would be absolutely drenched in it right now. It was hard being caught in her won lie. Her pride just wouldn't let it go.

"…Fine, we're lost, okay?" Weiss huffed out a confession. "I have NO idea where we are. Is that what you wanted to hear?".

"Yeah, pretty much," Ruby quickly replied.

Sighing, Weiss leaned against the wall. Ruby decided to lean next to her and take a break. They had been walking for a while, after all.

"I mean… I kinda guessed that already," Ruby further explained herself.

"Then why didn't you say anything?" Weiss asked.

Ruby gave a small shrug. "I dunno. I guess I just wanted to spend time with you,".

"But you already do plenty of that," said Weiss.

Reaching over, Ruby wrapped an arm around Weiss and planted a peck on her cheek. As her girlfriend blushed, Ruby said, "Now, you know there's never enough of that…".

"Good point," agreed Weiss. Truth to be told, Weiss could spend eternity with Ruby and never get tired or bored.

Ruby took her arm back and stood up from the wall. "Come on, we should at least go back to the front," she suggested.

Weiss briefly froze. Then, scratching her neck nervously, she admitted, "I, eh, don't know where we are,".

"What? Weren't you paying attention where we were going?" Ruby asked with a measure of disbelief. She thought that Weiss might at least remember the places that they passed on the way here.

"Didn't you?" Weiss asked right back.

An awkward silence filled the area. "No…" Ruby sheepishly said.

Weiss stood up from the wall and turned to face the way they came. "Well, I guess we can retrace our steps…" she thought out loud.

"Sure, why not?" Ruby rhetorically asked. She took the initiative, and began to walk back the way Team White Rose had taken. Following her team leader, Weiss kept pace behind her. Hopefully, Ruby could get them out of the mess she herself had made.

**xxx**

"Okay, just where are we NOW?" Weiss complained.

Roughly twenty minutes later, the amount of retracing Team White Rose managed to accomplish was somewhere between jack and shit. In fact, it was much more likely that Ruby had gotten them even more lost. But, it was hard to say if that was more of her own fault, or if she was navigationally confused by Weiss' earlier wandering. Considering the person Ruby Rose was, it was likely a combination of both.

"Aww, geez…" Ruby groaned as the feeling of crushing disappointment washed over her. She was so lost, she couldn't even find her own feet.

In front of them, they were facing an emergency exit that led out to the parking lot. It wasn't even the section they parked in, so they couldn't orientate themselves, either. It really figured that would happen. Although, if one compares Ruby and Weiss' bad luck to that of their friends, they had gotten off pretty lightly. At least they didn't witness brutal dolphin murder today.

But, since they didn't know that, their collective spirit was low.

"I think we're lost again…" Ruby mumbled.

"You think? I thought we were in the lobby, checking out toys at the gift shop," Weiss sneered in complete sarcasm.

"That isn't really helping, you know," Ruby pointed out, annoyed. She didn't need this from Weiss. What she needed was a way back to the lobby, at least. The Kraken exhibit would be more preferable, but it was best to take small steps.

"Well, what else can we do? Try again? We're already lost!" Weiss heatedly exclaimed.

"Calm down already! Try to think of something positive!" Ruby ordered.

"Like what? Nothing about this is good!" Weiss shot back.

Ruby had to admit Weiss had a bit of a point. But, she just couldn't wallow in negativity! She needed to make Weiss feel better!

"Well… we could be on fire right now! That's worse!" tried Ruby.

Weiss stared at Ruby, dumbfounded at how stupid that sounded. "That doesn't apply here at all," she flatly stated.

"Yeah… umm…" Ruby began to think quickly. Then, a different technique hit her.

"At least we're in a nice, safe aquarium! I mean, we could be in the Forever Fall Forest, the Grimm Wilds, the Vacuo Desert, Dranglei—" Ruby reassured before being cut off by Weiss.

"Okay, okay, I get it." Weiss sighed. "But… What now? We have no idea where we are, and we need to find that exhibit," she groaned. Then, a thought hit her like a truck. How had she not thought about it before! Arrrgh, she was so stupid for not seeing the obvious answer!

"Why don't we just call the others and ask where the exhibit is?" she asked Ruby.

Ruby slapped her own forehead in shock. Oww! That was a bad idea. With the pain on her face still stinging, she complimented, "Man, you're really smart, Weiss!". Then, Ruby pulled out her scroll and began to page through her contact list.

Let's see… Yang and Blake probably weren't going to be of any help. Knowing Yang, she would just drag Blake off to do something on her own terms. Jaune and Pyrrha were good ideas, and so was Ren. Nora… not so much. The last time Ruby called her, she chatted her ear off on some dream she had. All Ruby wanted to know where they should meet for lunch that day.

So, Ruby tried to call Jaune first. But, for some odd reason, he wouldn't pick up. All Ruby heard was his voicemail recording telling her to leave a message. Was he busy looking at the exhibit already? Well, it wouldn't hurt to call Pyrrha, then. She always made time for people she knew.

There was only one dial tone before Pyrrha answered her scroll. "Hello? Ruby?" came her vice from the other end.

"Hey, yeah, Pyrrha? Um, sorry to, eh, interrupt, but I have a quick question for ya," Ruby cheerfully chatted into her scroll. She decided to flash Weiss a thumbs up. Naturally, Weiss didn't react. Instead, she looked at Ruby with an impatient look. The sooner they could figure this stuff out, the better.

"Sure, go ahead!" Pyrrha replied, anticipating whatever Ruby had to ask.

"Do… do you know where the Kraken exhibit is?" Ruby asked.

Ruby heard Pyrrha let out an irritated sigh on the other end. "No… Jaune and I have been looking at other things," she replied. Unless Ruby's ears were deceiving her, it sounded like Pyrrha had used up a lot of her natural patience.

"Oh… o-okay then, sorry for bothering you," Ruby swiftly said before she was about to hang up.

"Oh, it's no problem. I fact, I'm sorry I couldn't hel—" Pyrrha's voice was cut off. Ruby didn't want to sit through a lengthy apology for no reason. So, with that experience a bust, she decided to try the next best thing and call Ren.

Ruby pulled up Ren's scroll number and dialed it up. Putting it back against her ear, Ruby sat through about five dial tones before Ren decided to answer his scroll.

"Hello," was Ren's flat greeting.

"Hey, uh Ren? Mind if I ask you something real quick?" Ruby said into her scroll.

Ren's characteristically annoyed/pained sigh could be heard through the speaker. "Go ahead," he tiredly replied.

"Do you know where the Kraken tank is?" inquired Ruby.

There was a lengthy pause on the other end. Ruby could have sworn that Ren hung up, but then he responded with, "Unfortunately… yes,".

"Great! Where is it?" Ruby enthusiastically asked Ren.

"I wouldn't recommend seeing it, to be honest," Ren murmured.

"Whatever, can you tell me where it is?" pressed Ruby further.

Ren audibly groaned on the other end. "Fine, fine. It's down the hall from the children's play pit. But… for fair warning, you might not like what you see. Keep that in mind," he advised Ruby.

"Down the hall from the play pit! You got it!" Ruby parroted before abruptly hanging up the scroll. Then, she flashed a toothy grin at Weiss.

"I know where it is~~" Ruby chirped in a sing-song voice.

"I know. You said it out loud less than a minute ago," Weiss observed. That deflated Ruby a little bit, as her shoulders visibly slumped.

"Should we get going then?" Ruby suggested, being brought back down to the ground.

"Absolutely. We've spent enough time being lost as is. Now, if we can find our way to the children's area, then we can find the exhibit," Weiss droned. With that being said, she turned on her heel and began to walk away.

But, halfway down the short hallway, she paused. Then, as if she was trying to restrain herself, she turned around to face Ruby. "I, uh, don't know where we are…" she admitted in a strained voice.

Ruby chuckled to herself a she walked up to Weiss' side. With a half reassuring, half patronizing pat on the shoulder, she declared, "Oh-ho, my Weiss. I paid attention this time. Come on, follow me!". Ruby proudly strode ahead, as if she was some bold, revolutionary explorer.

Weiss rolled her eyes a bit at the sight. Sure, Ruby' dorkiness was an adorable trait, but by now her patience had worn down to the point where it was less than appreciated. All Weiss wanted to do was look at that damn oversized squid… octopus… beast… thing and get back to Beacon Academy. She didn't want to drag this out any longer. At his point, wandering around this aquarium was about as painful as a forced castration without anything to dull the feeling. Okay, maybe not THAT bad, but the point still stood. Weiss didn't want to stay here for much longer.

And so, Ruby bravely (in her mind) led her team (only composed of Weiss at the moment) to their ultimate goal (a sea creature in a display).

It wasn't really dramatic when you think about it.

**xxx**

About twenty or so minutes later (Ruby's memory wasn't all that great, after all), Team White Rose was finally heading down the right hallway, towards the Kraken tank.

"I wonder how big it is?' Ruby wondered out loud.

"We'll see when we get there," replied Weiss, picking up her pace. With an end in sight, she had all the motivation she needed to get to that damned Kraken.

Ruby, of course, brushed off Weiss in favor for her own train of thought. "Let's see… Ren said it wasn't that far from the kid's play place…". Right at that moment, Weiss and Ruby walked right next to the mentioned area.

Abruptly, Ruby stopped to look inside. Then, without a word, Ruby walked in, as if she was a moth drawn to a flame.

"Wha—Ruby? What are you doing?" Weiss confusedly asked.

"Ball pit!" Ruby cried over her shoulder. Oh, the aquarium had a ball pit to play in! This place had gone up a dozen points in Ruby's mind. In absolute glee, Ruby hopped into the ball pit and slid beneath the ocean of balls (Don't read into that phrase too much).

Rubbing her temples, Weiss shuffled after Ruby. There was so much wrong with what was happening. First of all, this was a place for CHILDREN, not huntresses in training. Secondly, they had a goal to accomplish, and Ruby had ditched it right before they got there. And finally, Ruby didn't look like she was going to be leaving the ball pit any time soon.

"Ruby! Get out of there!" Weiss yelled at the ball pit. She got no response. Her frustration growing, Weiss shouted louder. "We don't have time for this! Get out!".

"GRRAHHH!" Ruby shouted as she leapt out from under the balls to scare Weiss.

"GAH—FUCK!" Weiss yelped in terror. Then, realizing she swore in a children's playroom, her face grew redder than imaginable with anger. She was so angry, that one could cook rice using nothing but her boiling anger.

"Ha ha! You can't catch me!" Ruby teased as she disappeared under the balls again.

"Oh, you… YOU… DOLTTTTTT!" Weiss cried as she dove into the ball pit to catch Ruby. She wasn't going to get away with making her swear in such an uncouth manner! Weiss was now the metaphorical shark in the ball ocean, with Ruby as her prey.

So much for checking out the Kraken exhibit.

**xxx**

**Man, ball pits are cool. It doesn't matter if you're a kid, or an adult, or something in between, they'll never stop being awesome. Well, except in a few situations, like a small one being the only bonus at some shitty convention, or if some random kid took a piss in there. Regardless, they're still fun. Anyway, go ahead and tell me your opinions on ball pits with a review or message for me! This is The Draigg, disappearing beneath a sea of balls (Please, don't read into that).**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Yangin' Out With Blake

**Hooray for puns! Or, if you're not the type for puns, screw you, The Draigg, for making puns! There, now I've appealed to both demographics! I'm so considerate. But really, would it be a story with Yang if it didn't have puns? Don't answer that. Getting off that tangent, just a friendly reminder that I don't own RWBY, or any media. Really, I don't. But, me getting to do that is a long term goal. Now, enough about me, let's get going!**

**xxx**

"Blub blub blub!" Yang sounded out as she poked Blake's face with a fish plushie that she bought. Annoyed, Blake swatted at the fake fish.

"I swear, if you keep that up, it's going to give me a stroke," complained Blake.

Putting down the toy, Yang placed her hands on her hips. "Oh, come one, Blakey! I thought you of all people would like this fish!". At that, Blake quickly covered Yang's mouth and looked around. Nobody else was in the hallway that the two of them were standing in. Seeing that she was safe, Blake sighed and removed her hand.

"Would you be quiet about that?" the cat Faunus furiously whispered. "I'm not ready to reveal that to everyone,".

The smile on Yang's face dropped. "Oh, geez, I forgot. Ahhh… sorry, Blake," she mumbled in apology. Even sometimes Yang had to admit to herself that her teasing went a little too far. Blake was still closeted about being a Faunus except to people she personally trusted. All it would take is one slip up, and all of the work she performed while disguised as only a human would be gone.

Huffing, Blake let herself relax a little. "I-it's okay… Just be careful, okay? It's all I ask," she forgave.

"Cool, cool… But, I wish you can say the same in the bed…" Yang joked, her grin growing once more. Blake couldn't help but smirk a little at Yang's teasing.

"Hey, I haven't heard a complaint yet," Blake pointed out.

A little too quickly, Yang replied, "Remember the whole shock dust thing?".

Blake cringed at the memory. That was the first real hint for her that her favorite erotica authors had very little clue about what they were writing. It also served as a reminder not to trust everything you read. As a result of that little experiment, Yang couldn't walk, let alone stand for a while, and the two of them both felt incredibly awkward about the whole thing. And, if you wanted to get really egregious about it, it was a waste of a perfectly good shock dust crystal. Weiss would be disappointed at that fact, if she knew about it. But really, it was best for all involved parties that she didn't. The level of discomfort would be too damn high.

"Can we not talk about that?" Blake pleaded. Her stomach was feeling uneasy just at the thought of it.

"Just sayin'…" Yang drifted off with a shrug.

The silence that followed was laced with an uncomfortable feeling. For some reason, these awkward beats were becoming more and more common. But, maybe if they didn't get into such weird misadventures, then they wouldn't occur as often. Food for thought.

"So… what now?" asked Yang.

"…Kraken, I guess?" Blake suggested.

Yang immediately shot down that idea. "Nah, that sounds boring. And worse, educational. I want to do something FUN," she moaned loudly.

"Like what? This is an aquarium, not an amusement park," Blake flatly observed.

" Actually… that map DID say that a playroom was near the Kraken tank…" Yang thought out loud.

"Really? What are you, five?" Blake sneered.

With a thump of her fist against her chest, Yang proudly declared, "I can't help but be a child at heart, Blakey-poo. Now, we can go play, or we can stay here and be bored. What's it gonna be?".

Blake mulled over the idea of hanging out at a play area in her mind. One the one hand, it was kind of weird for someone her age to just hang out where children played at. On the other hand, fish weren't very interesting. Sure, they tasted great, Blake knew that very well. But really… someone who's hobby was looking at fish swimming lazily was either very dull, or past their mid-forties. Aquarium visits were one step ahead of model trains, in Blake's mind.

"Sure, why the heck not," the cat girl decided. She didn't have much too really lose by going to the play area. Heck, at least it would be entertaining to see what Yang might do there.

"Good girl. Let's get going!" Yang said as she turned and began to walk down the hall.

Blake raised an eyebrow at Yang's back. "…You do know that leads to the lobby, right?" she called out.

Yang paused mid step. Turning around to look at Blake, she gave her a sheepish look. "Right. I was, uh, testing you. And you passed! G-good job!" was Yang's bluff. Blake clearly didn't buy it, and shot her a doubtful look instead.

"Don't give me that look…" Yang grumbled as she began to walk in the other direction. Blake waited for Yang to pass her before she followed. It never ceased to amuse Blake to get Yang back for her teasing occasionally.

**xxx**

When Blake and Yang walked through the threshold of the play place, they were greeted by a rather unexpected sight. Indeed, it was a rare thing to behold in front of them.

Weiss was angrily throwing herself around the ball pit, as if she had a vendetta against brightly colored plastic balls. Blake was incredibly confused at the view. However, Yang took something entirely different away from all this.

"Holy crap, a ball pit!" the blonde cheered as she shoved her stuffed fish into Blake's hands and made a beeline towards the ball pit. Blake simply rolled her eyes and walked after her girlfriend. Although, to be fair, it wasn't like she didn't see this one coming. After all, Yang was a self-proclaimed child at heart.

Yang began to giggle like a small child as she climbed into the ball pit. Then, with only the train of thought a five year old would have, Yang began to throw plastic balls at Weiss' head, simply to get a rise out of her.

It worked like a charm.

"Damn it, Yang! I'm trying to do something here! You aren't helping!" Weiss yelled at the blonde, now realizing that she was in the pit with her. She was less concerned that Yang was here, and much more that she was being an annoying oaf.

As if on cue, Ruby rose out of the balls, several of them in her hands. "Surprise attack!" she cried as she began to throw plastic balls at Weiss too.

Weiss stood there and took the attacks, her rage growing. She was shaking in pure anger now, and she was ready to explode with furious energy. By now, Weiss was so pissed that she had lost the ability to form coherent words. "Flargl megh murrh drehh cepp gahhh" she growled from the back of her throat. There was absolutely no way that was a good sign.

In a moment of dead calm, Weiss ignored the balls being thrown at her, walked over to the edge of the pit, and climbed out. Then, she speed-walked into the nearest restroom and locked the door behind her. Then, as if ushered from the deepest pit of hell, screams of pure hatred were heard from behind the door.

"GGGAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! GGGGHHHHHHAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Then, the screaming stopped. Yang, Blake, and Ruby stared at the door, not knowing what to expect. After a minute of tense silence, the lock on the door clicked open, and the bathroom door opened. Weiss was huffing with deep breath, and her hands were clenching and unclenching repeatedly.

She stomped back to the ball pit and glowered at Ruby from the edge.

"APOLOGIZE. **NOW**," Weiss demanded through gritted teeth.

Damn, Weiss could be really scary sometimes. Like, right now. That was a good example. In fact, so much so that Ruby was currently frozen with fear. And this was happening to girl who viewed a giant Nevermore as prey.

"S-s-s-sor-r-ry, W-Weiss OH GOD DON'T HURT ME!" Ruby cried as she disappeared under the balls again, this time to hide.

Yang slowly got out of the ball pit and walked towards Weiss. "Weiss… just calm down now… there's no need to get upset…" she said in a soothing voice. It didn't seem to be working, as she could still hear Weiss heavily breathing through her nose.

Deciding to put a quick end to this, Yang gently wrapped Weiss in a hug and began to stroke her hair lightly. "Sshhh, sshhh… calm down now, that's a good girl…" she cooed at the heiress.

Weiss' breathing slowed, and her hands stopped clenching. She could feel the warmth of Yang's aura envelop her, just like a warm quilt on a chilly day. It was a relaxing feeling. Eventually, Weiss' muscles stopped tensing, and she melted in Yang's soft embrace. Most of all, it reminded her of when Ruby held her. Now Weiss understood where that nice embrace came from.

"Are you okay now?" Yang asked as she massaged Weiss' scalp some more.

"Mm-hmm," hummed Weiss in response. Wow, Yang felt nice. Really nice. It was like being with a bigger Ruby right now.

Yang let go of Weiss, who whimpered in annoyance. However, now that she wasn't in a murderous rage, this was the time to try and make amends with her girlfriend…. even though it was her fault. But, if her past experiences had taught her one thing, it wasn't all that healthy to hold onto and internalize the hatred and annoyance she felt at that moment. It nearly destroyed her the last time she let it get to her.

"R-Ruby? You can come out, I'm not going to hurt you," Weiss weakly said to the ball pit. She thought she saw a few balls shift in place, but Ruby didn't surface. So, she just decided to continue. "I-I'm sorry that I got mad at you… but we just need to get our work done, and I'm sorry that I lost my patience. Can you please come out so we can do what we need to?".

After a minute of quiet, a small voice drifted up form under the balls. "Y-you're not going to hurt me?".

"No, of course not," Weiss replied.

Slowly, a section of balls rose, before they gave way to a still nervous Ruby. She was fidgeting with her fingers and her gaze was unfocused. "I'm so-sorry for all that… We had a g-goal and I didn't do my job as leader and I let you down and I'm a big baby and—" she rambled on before Weiss grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the ball pit.

Placing her hands on Ruby's shoulders, Weiss looked Ruby in the eyes. "I shouldn't've acted like that. We both regret what we did, okay? We can just put that behind us, and do what we need to do, alright?" she offered. Ruby gave a small nod in response.

"Great. Now, come on. We have to at least look at the Kraken," Weiss said as she took Ruby's soft hand and led her out of the play room.

Dumbfounded at what just played out in front of them, Yang and Blake watched silently as Team White Rose walked out of the paly place and down the hall, presumably to the Kraken tank.

"Well… that was a thing," Yang summarized.

"No kidding," agreed Blake.

"You can't deny that wasn't interesting," Yang added.

"Well, to a certain degree, I suppose," Blake said. Maybe 'interesting' wasn't the best word to describe that little passion play, but it was close enough to understand what Yang meant.

Without anything better to do, Yang climbed back into the ball pit to play around in it some more. But, now that the others were gone, she had to think of something to do. But then, she got a good idea of how to have fun and mess with Blake.

Taking a shiny red plastic ball in her hand, Yang waved it around at Blake. "Hey! Fetch!" she said as she tossed it out of the pit.

"Really? You're doing this now?" Blake exasperatedly groaned. However, she made sure to garb the ball and toss it back to Yang.

Yang smiled. She had Blake right where she wanted her. So, she grabbed another red ball and tossed it out again. Almost immediately, Blake went after it and threw it back at Yang. And that process repeated itself again. And again. And again. And another time. And again. And again. Eventually, it got to the point where this process went on for about twenty minutes.

But then, Blake realized what Yang was doing. "Hey! I'm NOT playing fetch with you! No way!" she protested.

Instead of listening to her, Yang tossed out another ball. And, just like all the other times, Blake got it and tossed it back at Yang.

And this went on for a while more.

**xxx**

**I don't know about you, but my cats love playing fetch. Or, at least they did. Not so much now, given how old they are. But hey, cats are fun. Man, that fetch scene would make for some good fan art… I wouldn't mind if some was made for my stories. Hint, hint, readers. Anyway, moving on form the shameless begging, let me know what you think of the story so far with a review or message for me. This is The Draigg, signing off to go see my cats.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Come Together, Right Now

**Man, getting to write this chapter was incredibly tedious. Not old did my laptop throw a complete hissy-fit, but it's hard drive decided to completely fry itself as well. So, since it would cost an ass-load of cash to just repair everything, I just got a new one and transferred over my files instead. Man, that was annoying. But, at least this one looks cooler. But, enough about me and my petty issues, you're here for a story! So, just remember that I don't own anything I write about, especially RWBY. Now, go forth, and read!**

**xxx**

Some time passed. In fact, enough time had passed that it was time for the members of Teams RWBY and JNPR had to meet up back at the front lobby. In other words, that meant that they had spent roughly three hours at the aquarium already. That was just enough time to see whatever bullshit you wanted to at an aquarium to its fullest. Or at least, that's what Yang thought. After all, how many of them actually had the attention span to stare at a bunch of fish for a long time?

Speaking of Yang Xiao Long, she was strolling down the hallway alongside Blake. She had her fun at the ball pit, but now all Yang wanted was to go back to Beacon. She was sure that Blake felt the same, considering how tired she looked.

Deciding to cheer her girlfriend up, Yang lifted her fish plushie to Blake's face and began to go, "Bloop bloop bloop blorp,".

Blake sighed and her shoulders slumped. Didn't Yang understand that the novelty of her little act had diminished within the first few minutes of doing it? Yet again, it was entirely like Yang to run a joke into the ground. "Yang? Please?" she asked, hoping to get Yang to stop.

Yang gave an incredulous shrug. "Hey babe, I'm just tryin' to light your mood," she explained. Blake shot up her eyebrow at her in response.

"What makes you think I need that?" the cat Faunus drawled out.

"Come on, it's written all over your face. You're tired, I get it," Yang said as she ribbed Blake gently.

If there was another thing to add to the list of things Yang was good at (alongside punching things and having an impressive chest to boot), it was that she possessed an empathy like that of a cool mom. Unfortunately, Yang sometimes went a little overboard with her comfort, like now, for instance. Blake honestly felt like Yang was treating her as if she was five, or some other young age. Brightly colored stuffed animals just didn't work on her.

Sighing, Blake replied, "While the concern is noted, think we can just hurry back to the lobby? The sooner back to Beacon, the better,". Barring the obvious fact that marine life is more interesting to eat than it was to look at, she also wanted to get back in time to work on another chapter for her fan fiction. After all, Blake did like keeping a tight updating schedule. She had fans, damn it, and she wasn't going to deny them smut!

Yang dropped the stuffed fish. "Sure, if you want. Wanna race there?" she asked, her led muscles tensing.

"I'm fine, thank you," Blake quickly responded. Yang felt a little disappointed, but she let her legs relax.

"Okay… we'll just walk then…" she mumbled. She decided to keep regular pace with Blake. At least there was no real hurry for them to get to the lobby.

**xxx**

Nora was virtually inconsolable after what she witnessed earlier in the day. Even with Ren sitting by her side in the lobby didn't seem to improve her mood. She had gotten attached to Claude the dolphin in the short time she knew it, and now she was having trouble letting it go.

Okay, maybe that isn't the best description of how she was reacting. Instead of 'having trouble letting it go', it was more like 'crying so much that the mixture of mucus and tears made for a good facial moisturizer'. Well, if such a metaphor was a good one, anyway. The point being made here was that Nora was an absolute wreck.

"A-an-and *sniffle* tha-tha b-bow was gonna look good!" Nora sobbed into Ren's arm. By now, the large stain on Ren's shirt was so saturated that he could feel Nora's snot through the thick fabric. Yet again, when you were a friend of Nora's for so long, you just kind of rolled with whatever she doled out on you.

"I'm sure he's in a better place, Nora," soothed Ren. It was a nice thought, anyway. Sure, he could tell her that her dolphin friend was currently being digested by a ravenous sea-beast, but that would just be needlessly cruel. He wasn't heartless, you know.

"R-really?" Nora choked out.

"Yeah. He's probably doing… the dolphin stuff that he likes. Forever," Ren replied. To be honest, he didn't know much about dolphins, except that they were sea dwelling mammals, they seemed friendly, and they tasted good. But, talking about how great Claude would have tasted certainly wouldn't help matters right now.

It was around this point that Blake and Yang walked into the lobby at a relaxed pace. Seeing their acquaintances sitting near the exit on a long bench, Team Bumblebee decided to meet up with them.

"Yo! How's your trip?" Yang asked, before looking at Nora. "Whoa. What's wrong?" she asked Ren.

Ren shifted his gaze around, and then covered Nora's ears. She probably wouldn't react well to him talking directly about the dolphin's death. "We went to the Kraken display. There was a dolphin and… it wasn't a pretty sight," he explained in a low voice.

"D-did the Kraken eat it?" Yang asked, a little shocked. How the hell did she miss out on a great show like that?

Ren nodded and let go of Nora's ears. He hoped that Yang would understand why the two of them were like this, and just let things be. Naturally, he was proven dead wrong when Yang spoke up again.

Unfortunately for all involved parties, Yang couldn't hold back the great pun that clicked in her mind. "I guess that dolphin's sleeping with the fishes!" she blurted out. Then, dropping her plushie and covering her mouth quickly, Yang realized how bad of a situation she had gotten herself into.

Nora let go of Ren and stood up slowly. There was something else in her eyes. It was something that would make a lesser man piss his pants and faint immediately. It was a look that said 'you don' fucked up now'.

"Claude…! CLAUDE! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Nora screamed as she swiftly grabbed Yang by the collar and began to drag her out into the parking lot. As much as Yang tried to struggle against her grip, it was no good. An Angry Nora was a Crazy Strong Nora.

"Fuck! Fuck! Help!" Yang cried out before she was dragged out of the twin glass doors.

Ren and Blake shared a quick, terrified look. When two people like that fought, it was like god damn Ragnarok was happening. But, they had to intervene. They were their partners, after all. So bracing themselves, they followed after the pair.

Hey, at least they might die an honorable death in battle.

**xxx**

"It was so rad! I mean, how can something that glows in the dark NOT be, am I right?!" Jaune gushed to Ruby.

In an odd stroke of luck, as if it was a contrived coincidence, Jaune and Pyrrha stumbled upon Weiss and Ruby exiting the Kraken exhibit. Judging by the expressions they had, they were disappointed by what they had seen.

"I know! Better than that sleepy ol' Kraken!" Ruby fan-girled. When she and Weiss tried to get a good look at the Kraken, it was asleep at the back of its rocky home. So, all the pair really saw of it was a stray tentacle poking out of the cave's mouth. It was a thoroughly disappointing experience, that much was certain.

While the respective team leaders of RWBY and JNPR were having fangasms over cool sea life, Weiss and Pyrrha were trying to make polite conversation.

"So, what did you like the most here?" Pyrrha asked the heiress.

Weiss had to think a little on that one. She only really looked at exhibits to buy time to find the Kraken exhibit, so she didn't really pay much attention to them. "I… The clown fish, I guess…" Weiss eventually decided. At least their unique coloring stood out easily in her mind.

"Oh… I liked all the plants!" Pyrrha offered without asking.

"Any interesting ones?" Weiss asked back.

"Sure! The kelp was—" Pyrrha began to explain before bumping into Jaune, who had stopped in his tracks. Pyrrha was thrown off balance, and landed on the ground on her rear.

"Oof! Sorry for bumping into you!" apologized Pyrrha as she stood back up. When Jaune gave no reply, she followed his gaze to see an awful sight.

Now Weiss, Ruby, Pyrrha, and Jaunne were greeted by a view of complete carnage outside of the lobby's large windows. Then, they rushed out of the now shattered glass doors to get a better look.

The parking lot looked like it had suffered from heavy shelling. Cars were everywhere, and so were an excessive amount of craters. To their left was the remains of the van they got here in, with some of their weapons scattered on the ground. For some reason, Ren's, Nora's, Blake's, and Yang's were missing from the pile.

Speaking of Yang and Nora, the angry pair was duking it out in the middle of the largest crater. If the others had to guess, there was some kind of argument that spiraled wildly out of control until the both of them resorted to weapons. It was by some stroke of luck that the aquarium wasn't completely vaporized.

Right now, the two were in locked stance. Yang and Nora were straining against the long handle of Magnhild, Nora's hammer/grenade launcher. Yang was trying to block Nora's swing, but it was looking like Nora was overpowering her. Only strained grunts were heard from the pair.

Nora then decided to break the lock by hitting the trigger and launching a grenade. The struggle was broken, and the two combatants were thrown in opposite directions. Yang smashed into a light pole, and Nora altered her trajectory mid-air by firing another grenade. She landed on her feet, then ran over to the crumpled form of Yang.

However, when Nora raised her hammer to deliver the finishing blow on Yang's head, the blonde boxer shot up and quickly jabbed Nora in the stomach. She had only been playing possum, and now was her turn to damage Nora. Tossing the redhead into the air with one hand, Yang waited a brief second for Nora to begin her descent.

But, instead of landing, Yang began to air-juggle Nora with her fists. Her hands moved rapidly, and delivered blow after blow on Nora. Yang screamed her kiai, "ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAROAORAROAORAORAORAORA!" as she unleashed punch after punch. Her Ember Celica had long run out of ammo, and she was now relying on the metal portion of her gauntlets to deal damage.

"ORA!" Yang finished with a large uppercut, which launched Nora onto the hood of a destroyed sedan. Yang climbed onto the hood to deal out more hits, but was stopped when Nora kneed her in her crotch. Letting out a squeak of agony, Yang slumped off of the hood and onto the hard pavement.

Nora dragged herself off of the hood, and limped over to Yang, who was clutching her family treasure and writing on the ground in pain. There was so much she could take before it wore her out, and crotch shots were one certain way to drain her aura rapidly.

Nora hefted Magnhild over her head, read to deal the final blow. "FOR CLAUDE!" she dramatically yelled at the top of her lungs.

The world seemed to slow down for the horrified Weiss, Ruby, Jaune, and Pyrrha. They honestly thought that Nora was going to kill Yang. But then, they saw two figures come out of hiding behind a wrecked SUV. It was Blake and Ren!

The both of them dashed in the direction of Nora and Yang. Blake hurled a small stone at Nora, and it landed against her back. Of course, with Blake being the ninja that she was, hit a vital pressure point that completely paralyzed Nora. The furious red head slumped unceremoniously to the floor.

When Blake and Ren reached the now incapacitated pair, the first thing Blake did was tie up Nora's limbs with the ribbon portion of Gambol Shroud. Ren moved over to Yang, who had managed to crawl over to Nora.

"Sorry," Ren quickly apologized, "But this is for your own good,". He raised one of his pistols over Yang's head.

"Wha? Oh son of a—" Yang's curse was cut short by Ren pistol-whipping her unconscious.

Blake glared at Ren. "Was that really necessary?" she seethed.

"We were running out of options," defended Ren.

Deciding not to press the issue further, Blake hefted the now restrained Nora, who had resumed uncontrollably crying, over her shoulder. Ren followed Blake's lead and began to drag Yang over to where the rest of his friends stood in shock.

Blake stopped in front of her team/friends. "You might want to call a cab," she barked at them, before dumping Nora on a bench and sitting down. Ren didn't say anything as he dragged Yang over to Ruby. He dumped her sister at her feet, and then walked over to the one non-demolished vending machine to get a drink.

The best the group could do was look over the carnage, frozen in their horror. How could have something like this have happened? Well, if one thing was for sure, their teammates weren't going to be hearing the last of this any time soon.

Who knew a trip to the aquarium could go so bad?

**xxx**

**I bet you didn't expect a fight to be in this this story! But really, I had no idea it would have one when I started to write this story, either. So, it's a surprise for everyone! Horray! Anyway, feel free to tell me what you thought of the fight, and the story overall with a review or message shot over my way! This is The Draigg, signing off for now!  
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	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: What Did We Learn?

**You know, I feel that a lot of people expect stories to have some sort of lesson nowadays. You know, something to give the reader a new outlook on life? Well, that's where I step in. I'm the type of guy to tell you that the real lesson of one of my stories is never to eat free cookies. It could either be the worst or best moral ever, depending on your tastes. But, whatever, it's really up to the audience's interpretation, like the finale of Cowboy Bebop. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make here is that I deliver more than you think, but less than you'd hope when it comes to morals. With that aside out of the way, let's just get to the story.**

**xxx**

A tense silence was hanging in Professor Ozpin's office. He had his glasses pushed up to the bridge of his nose, and his hands were clasped around his face. Sitting opposite form in, in front of his desk, sat Ren, Nora, Yang, and Blake. Nobody moved a muscle. In fact, the only things making any noise were the completely unnecessary spinning cog decorations littered around the office.

Breaking the silence, Ozpin sighed and unclasped his hands. Then, he picked a piece of paper off of his desk and showed it to the motley group of students.

"Would one of you care to explain why I was sent this massive bill for repairs to the Vale City Aquarium?" the professor asked in a dead calm voice.

Nobody bothered to reply to him. Nora looked at the floor, and Yang rubbed her eyes. However, Ren and Blake looked like they were silently encouraging the two of them to speak up.

Noting the silence, Ozpin interrogated them some more. "Would you also like to explain why the two of you," he pointed to Yang and Nora, "were caught on security footage tearing up a large parking lot?".

Hesitantly, Yang piped up. "I, uh, sorta got beat up by Nora…" she mumbled.

"That much is clear," Ozpin noted. Yang wasn't sure if that was meant to be an insult or an observation. Either way, it made her feel like crap.

"I… eh… kinda got involved too," Nora sheepishly admitted too.

"I'm glad this was settled," Ozpin stated. "Now, the real question is, what to do with you two?".

That question hung in the air, as nobody really knew what was in store for any of them.

"Beacon Academy has the right to dispel the both of you…" mused Ozpin as he leaned forward on his desk. Nora and Yang visibly seized up hearing that. "Or, we can simply take the balance for repairs out of your student account, but that isn't enough to cover everything…" he continued. The guilty pair relaxed immediately.

"Hrrmmmm…" Ozpin hummed in deep thought.

"Professor Ozpin," Ren butted in, "Is there any way that Nora and Yang can stay at this academy?". Even if he wasn't looking at her, Ren could tell that Nora smiled at him coming to her defense. He was also sure that Yang would appreciate it too. After all, that's what friends were for.

"Well… I'm sure that Beacon Academy can afford to pay the damages, but that absolves them of responsibility… but…" the headmaster thought out loud. He leaned back into his office chair as he suddenly had an idea.

"How do you two feel about unpaid labor?".

**xxx**

"I hate my life…" Yang grumbled to herself.

Of course, Nora and Yang took Ozpin's offer the other day. They would be pretty stupid not to. But, when they did, they had no idea what exactly they were going to do. Now, Yang's decision was beginning to haunt her immensely.

Right now, Team Bruisers were cleaning out the utility/drainage tunnels that ran underneath Beacon Academy. You would be surprised what things could build up down there. The floor in their section was completely caked in an unholy mix of congealed Grimm blood, fetid rain water, and what Yang sincerely hoped wasn't urine. But, she was probably wrong on that last point.

Nora, however, was taking this surprisingly well. To her, this was an awesome cave adventure. Maybe she could find secret pirate treasure down here! If she did, she was planning to give it to Ren in apology for making a big mess of things.

"C'mon, Yang! Look at this weird stick I found!" Nora declared.

Yang looked at the twig that Nora proudly displayed. It was a cool stick alright. It was kind of shaped like a gun, but it was gnarled at one end. Maybe like a capital 'L', but with a rounded tip on the longer end.

"That's a weird stick, alright," Yang observed before getting back to trying to clean the floors. However, that was pretty hard when you only had a mop, push broom, and a large bucket to carry the slop in. To make matters more annoying, Nora was constantly getting distracted. She just sometimes randomly stopped cleaning to explore a hallway or spare room. But, Yang held her tongue. Otherwise, the fight they might get into could possibly destroy all of Beacon Academy.

But, to Yang's slight surprise, Nora went back to mopping up the horrible brew on the floor. That stick find must have settled her natural curiosity for a little bit.

Sloop, sloop, sloop.

The mopping continued in silence. It was kind of nice, but it was weird to see Nora being so quiet. Especially for this long. Nora hadn't said some odd thing or went on a random tangent in about twenty or so minutes.

"Y-Yang?" Nora shakily asked.

"Yeah? Wassup?" Yang inquired back.

"We're friends, right? We like each other. Well, I mean not like-like, because I'm not like that, but I know you know about like-liking someone, like in a like-liking way, like, you know?" Nora asked quickly.

It took a good minute or two for Yang to wrap her mind around Nora's tongue twister. "…Yes…?" she eventually settled on.

"W-well, I kinda sorta like-like someone, but I'm not sure he like-likes me, and I really want him too, but I don't know how to tell him. How did you do it?" continued Nora.

Yang sighed. It was incredibly blatant that she was talking about Lie Ren, of course. How couldn't she? The girl was practically a Remora (or rather, ReNora), to Ren's hypothetical Shark. In fact, it baffled her that those two hadn't hooked yet. Ren must have had the patience of a saint. Either that, or he was a eunuch. But, that guess was pretty unlikely.

Placing her hand on Nora's shoulder, Yang advised, "Look, I can't really say I'm any real expert here. But, I do know that he's gotta want it too. Find out what he likes, maybe try being more suggestive around him, I don't know. Something like that. Draw him in. Ya feel me?".

"I know he likes me… but maybe not in a like-like way, but just in a like way?" Nora thought aloud.

"Hey, for all you know, maybe Ren like-likes you," offered Yang.

Nora gasped in surprise. "How did you know it was Ren?". Then, after thinking for a brief second, she squeed, "Are you a wizard?!".

Yang chuckled, "Not exactly. Just call me… observant,".

"…Can you please not tell him? I-I want him to like-like me by himself," pleaded Nora, her shoulders slumped.

"'Course, Nor-Nor. I can keep a secret," reassured Yang as she lightly ruffled Nora's hair.

But in reality, there wasn't much of a secret to keep in the first place. After all, pretty much everyone saw the extreme amounts of romantic tension (or, as Yang called it, Rension) between that pair. Hell, even Ruby saw it, and her only romantic experience began and ended with Weiss. At least Yang got a head start on that stuff from the internet at an early age. Uncle Qrow never got around to installing those child locks on their internet browser, after all.

Nora returned Yang's promise with a large Ursa hug. Normally, her hugs were strong enough to crush a car door, but Yang was tough enough to bear it. Heck, she could probably dish out the same amount of pressure.

"I knew I could trust you!" Nora cried in thanks.

"Yeah, yeah, but seriously, can you please let go? You're covered in goo," Yang said as she tried to pry the clingy girl away. Not that she didn't appreciate the hug, it was more out of the fact that she didn't want a bunch of horrible grime all over her chest. She would probably have to burn her clothes after this. Or use an absurd amount of bleach on them instead.

Nora pulled herself away at Yang's request. "Y-yeah, sorry for that…" she slightly chuckled as she scratched the back of her neck. "We're cool, right?".

"Yeah, we're cool," calmed Yang as she began to mop the floor again.

Soon enough, Nora began to follow her friend's example and got back to cleaning the floor. You know, it wasn't all that bad being forced to clean a glorified drainage pipe covered in effluvial grime. At least she was able to get some help from her best bud, her amigo, her sister from another mister.

"_How would that work? Can a guy really get pregnant? Have we ever really tied? Science can try. Science is cool. Cool like Yang. Wow, Yang is cool. What a friendly friend! I wonder if she likes dolphins. Oh, maybe she would like Claude! Wait, Claude went bye-bye. Oh, now I made myself sad. Sadness. Boooooooo…_" was the hammer girl's locomotive of thinking.

Regardless, she kept on her work.

**xxx**

Ren was sitting outside on a bench. In his left hand was a gift. And, in his mind, he had a mission. He felt that it was his responsibility to cheer Nora up whenever she was feeling down in the dumps. So, he did the one thing he knew that Nora appreciated: him buying her things.

In the distance, he saw his objective. Nora walked out of the access tunnel, covered in something thoroughly unpleasant. He was thankful that he couldn't smell her from here. But, he knew that this feeling was short lived. He would have to get closer to Nora to deliver his gift. As he stood up and walked over to Nora, he saw Yang come out after her. Well, she wasn't his target. Better get her out of the equation swiftly.

"Hey, Yang. Mind if I talk to Nora a bit?" he asked the blonde as he walked up to Team Bruiser.

"Yeah, sure. She's your partner," Yang conceded as she shrugged. Then, turning on her heel, she strode around the corner and disappeared. Good, now Ren was free to give his gift without anyone seeing it. He had a reputation as a straight-man to keep, after all.

Turning to Nora, he stiffly said, "Hey, uh, I know the last few days were, ah, rough for you. Here you go,". With that, he held out the small cardboard box to Nora.

Curious, she took the box. Good things usually came in boxes. Well, except for severed body parts. But, that stuff came from serial killers. But, Ren wasn't a serial killer. He was a killer of Grimm!

Nora let out a high pitched squeal as she pulled the gift out of its package. It was a dolphin plushie! "OhmygodIloveit!" she squeed.

Then, she pretty much tackled Ren to the ground with a hug. Luckily he was anticipating that, and braced himself for an impact. At this point in their relationship, he was fully expecting to get killed by a misguided Nora trying to express how much she cared for him. Well, at least it was a WAY better death that getting ripped apart and devoured by a creature of Grimm. At least that way, he died by Nora's side instead.

"Nora, please get off me," Ren ordered through his teeth. To be honest, he was getting a slight erection because of the fact that A) Nora was on top of him, and B) he had a good view down her shirt. Damn these hormones! All that meditation and mental fortitude really meant nothing in the end.

"Hmmm…" Nora happily hummed from his chest. Nora wanted to melt into Ren right then and there. She just loved him so much in this moment… GAH! It was hard to explain! She just loved him so, so much!

(Un)fortunately for Nora and Ren, respectively, someone decided to break up the moment that they were sharing.

"I knew it! Woooo! Go get 'em, Ren!" Yang cheered as she leaned against the wall. Apparently, she hid around the corner, being the nosy romantic that she was.

Nora rolled off of Ren and stood up. She tried to hide her furious blushing, but it was obvious she was really liking being on top of Ren. "Y-Yang! I-I-I gah, ermm, aww geez!" she stuttered in embarrassment. So this was what it was lie to being caught in a compromising position. She didn't like that feeling all too much.

Ren brushed off the dirt and dried flakes of grime off of his shirt as he also stood up. "Yang, I can assure you, I wasn't eloping with Nora. All I did was give her a gift, and she expressed her appreciation accordingly," he calmly explained. He had a really had a good poker face.

"Yeah, sure. You totally proposed, right?" Yang teased.

"Wait, I'm MARRIED now!? Oh, Ren! When's the ceremony?!" Nora excitedly asked.

Sighing, Ren guided Nora to turn around as the two of them began to walk away. "No, we're not getting married today,". Then, over his shoulder, he called out to Yang, "Please, don't misinterpret what you saw,".

Yang could only laugh at what she saw as Team Sloth walked away. She could see that Nora was playing around with the stuffed dolphin in her hands, and Ren kept on holding his hand on Nora's back.

Then, chuckling to herself as she walked away, Yang came to an odd conclusion: blowing up an aquarium's parking lot really brought people together, after all. What an odd, yet somehow sane conclusion.

She would have to file this victory in her head. Go aquarium parking lots!

**xxx**

**Okay, maybe I wasn't exactly accurate with the whole moral rant up above. There was certainly something to learn here… if only for extremely specific situations. Hey, at least it's something, I guess. It's better than nothing. So, now that we've gotten confusing morals, violence against animals (and people), and weird humor out of this story, please be sure to leave me a review on what you thought about this story! Preferably with a message or review! And thus, this is The Draigg, swimming to warmer, better waters!**


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